Life in McCainistan – nine cars to grap a cappuccino

The L.A. Times reports that regular guy, non-arugula eating, definitely NOT elitist presidential candidate John Sidney McCain recently had a hankerin’ for a tall, hot mug of java juice. So, like any other ordinary, average guy who does not eat arugula or own ten properties, he got in his car and hit up the local Starbucks.

Wait – make that one of NINE cars:

McCain, who huddled with advisors at his desert compound in Sedona, Ariz., said nothing in public. A nine-car motorcade took him to a nearby Starbucks early in the morning, where he ordered a large cappuccino. McCain otherwise avoided reporters.

I understand the need for security on the presidential campaign trail, but how dangerous is it, really, in Sedona, Arizona? And what about the sheer scale of this operation? Here’s a photo of one of the vehicles:

Looks like a Chevy Suburban or something similar. Probably gets about 18 MPG. And there are five people in the photo, two of whom appear to be the McCains. That leaves three others, including a driver and some bodyguards.

Let’s assume every car had four people in it (wouldn’t want them to be too crowded, after all) and the vehicles had a full tank of gas. Without delving into the specifics of Secret Service pay scales, nine cars with four people apiece, minus two McCains = 34 people. Since there’s a Starbuck’s on nearly every streetcorner in Arizona, we can safely assume a trip of less than ten miles.

That’s still a lot of gas wasted for a $4.00 cup of coffee.

But then, I suppose he deserves it – he was, after all, a POW who didn’t have cappuccino for 5 1/2 years in Hanoi.